Essentially vertical doors adapted to be opened by a sideward movement



"March 19. 1968 J. B. OLSSON 3,313,527

ESSENTIALLY VERTICAL DOORS ADAPTED TO BE OPENED BY A SIDEWARD MOVEMENT Filed Nov. 25, 1966. 2 Sheets-Sheet l IIYVENTOR. W WM, B

March 19. 1968 ESSENTIALLY VERTICAL DOORS ADAPTED TO BE OPENED BY A SIDEWARD MOVEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B. OLSSON 3,373,527

Filed Nov. 25, 1966 w 4252? v BY United States Patent 3,373,527 ESSENTIALLY VERTICAL DOORS ADAPTED TO BE OPENED BY A SIDEWARD MOVEMENT Johan Berti] Olsson, Goteborg, Sweden, assignor to Associated Cargo Gear, A.B., Goteborg, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Nov. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 596,977 6 claims. (Cl. 49-212) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to track-supported vertical doors of the type op'enable by a sideward movement, and is concerned with improved mechanism for manipulating such a door including sealing the latter against its complementary door frame in a wall or bulkhead. According to the invention, the door is slidably associated with a track adjacent the upper part of the door by means of a wheeled mechanism secured to that side of the door which is remote from the bulkhead, and is adapted to be tilted away from the door frame when opened.

The present invention refers to improvements in essentially vertical doors which are adapted to be opened by a sideward movement, especially water-tight doors for closing openings in bulkheads on board ships or the like. Sidewards movable doors are. usually hung on wheels at their upper part, or are movable along a guideway on the floor. Such doors are often used as doors for garages or Workshops.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a door which is easily opened by a sideward movement and which, When closed, is water-tight and also may be used without a raised threshold.

A door according to the invention is characterized in that the wheels carrying the door are located in such a manner at the side of the door remote from the bulkhead that the door may be tilted outwards from the plane of the bulkhead sufficiently to permit a sealing arranged at or close by said lower edge of the door to be lifted from the threshold part of the door frame, and in that the rail is carried by members adapted to facilitate a displacement of said rail outwards from the plane of the bulkhead to a position parallel thereto.

The invention will, in the following, be described with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 shows a front view of the door according to the invention. FIGURE 2 is a section along line II--II in FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 3 and 4 are sections along line IIIIII in FIGURE 1, the door according to FIGURE 3 being in closed position, Whereas in FIGURE 4 the upper part of the door has been tilted outwards from the plane of the bulkhead; and FIGURE 5 is a section through the upper part of the door in closed position.

The door 1 according to the invention is shown in FIG- URE 1 in closed position, and it covers an opening 3 in a ships bulkhead. The opening 3 is surrounded by a door frame 4, which extends along three sides (i.e., top and two vertical sides) of the opening 3 provided with flanges 5 extending from the frame and adapted for cooperation with sealing strips 6 provided at the plane surface of the door 1. Along the fourth side of the door frame there is arranged a sealing strip 8 at the lower edge of the door for cooperation with a ledge 9 arranged in the threshold part 7 of door frame 4. The door 1 is carried by a number of wheels 10 which-when the door is in closed position-- are inclined in relation to the plane of the floor. The up per part of the door is provided with guiding means, for

3,373,527 Patented Mar. 19, 1968 instance rollers 13, which during sideward movement of the door run in a guide way 11 which is arranged parallel to the bulkhead, and which at its ends is provided with a carriage 12. These together with the guideway form a crab, which crab is carried by guideways 14 extending from the bulkhead and somewhat inclined thereto, in a manner to correspond to part of a circular are having the contact point of the wheels 10 against the floor-the threshold 7-as center. To this crab there are attached a number of actuating members (hydraulic jacks 15) which are adapted to displace the crab towards and away from the bulkhead, thereby tilting the door about the wheels 10. The length of the guideways 14 is so chosen that the sealing strip 8 is lifted from the threshold sufii cient to guarantee disengagement from ledge 9 when the upper part of the door 1 has reached its outermost position. In this position the Wheels 10 are essentially vertical and the door may be displaced sidewards to make the opening 3 completely free. This movement is brought about by a winch 16 connected to a wire 17 or to a chain running over sheaves 18.

A number of rollers 20 or the like are arranged at the upper longitudinal edge 19 (FIGURE 5) of the door. These rollers are adapted during the latter part of the closing movement to cooperate with abutments 22 arranged in the upper rail 21 of the door frame 4 in order to force the door downwards to make the sealing strip 8 contact the ledge 9. The rollers 20 may of course be attached to the uper rail 21 of the frame and the abutm'ents 22 at the upper edge 19 of the door.

For guiding the wheels 10 along the floor 23 guiding rails 24 are provided which opposite the door opening 3 consist of rounded bars and which in the part where the door is located when open, preferably consists of somewhat higher rails (not shown).

The battening down of the door along the remaining three sides is brought about by dogging members, preferably operated by some hydraulic apparatus. The members may consist of two-armed levers 25, which are operated by a manoeuvring bar 26 running parallel to the pertaining door side and fitted to the door 1 by means of links 27. A longitudinal displacement of bar 26, for instance by the hydraulic jack 28, will bring about a displacement of the bar away from the door, whereby the levers 25 will be forced against abutments provided on a support 29. Hereby the sealing strips 6 will be forced against flanges 5 extending from the door frame.

The embodiment above shown and described is to be regarded as an example only, and the invention may be varied in many ways within the scope of the claims. The tilting of the door may be brought about by other means than those shown, for instance by means of links. Preferably only part of the guide rail 11, which is located opposite to the door opening 3 is displaceable away from the bulkhead, while the remaining part of the guideway is fixedly connected to the bulkhead surrounding the frame 4. This fixed part of the guide-way is located in a position which corresponds to that of the movable part in its outermost position. Alternatively the guide-way may consist of a continuous rail which is pivotally connected to the bulkhead at the end remote from the opening, whereas the other end is connected to the door. The door is then provided with a single wheel, preferably located at the vertical centre plane of the door, the attachment of the rail to the bulkhead being such that the rail will be parallel to the bulkhead, when the door is tilted outwards.

In such designs where it is not necessary that the threshold is located in the same level as the floor, the threshold may in usual manner be arranged above the plane of the surrounding floor. The sealing strip 8 will then be arranged on the flat side of the door, close by the lower edge thereof and the ledge 9 cooperating with said 3 strip will be arranged at the juxtaposed vertical side of the threshold.

What I claim is: 1. In a closure for an opening in a generally vertical bulkhead, said opening being defined by a door frame having a top and two vertical sides and a transverse member at the bottom, which closure includes an essentially vertical door adapted to be opened by a sideward movement, wheels at the lower edge of the door adapted to carry the same along a horizontal guideway and a rail designed to govern the upper part of the door parallel to the bulkhead in which the opening to be closed by the door is arranged, characterized by the wheels carrying the door being located at the plane of the door remote from the bulkhead and being arranged in such a manner that they, when the door is closed, are inclined towards a plane normal to the plane of the door and lifted therefrom; by the rail being carried by members adapted to facilitate movement thereof towards and from the bulkhead,

by means to tilt the door utilizing said wheels as a fulcrum, and further by means to move the door parallel to the bulkhead in tilted position.

2. A door according to claim 1, in which each end of the rail is carried by a carriage adapted for cooperation with further rails arranged with a slight inclination to- Wards the plane of the bulkhead, corresponding to part of a circular are having the wheels at the lower edge of the door as fulcrum.

3. A door according to claim 2, in which only that part of the rail which is located in front of the door opening is displaceable outwards from the bulkhead, Whereas the remaining part of the rail is fixedly located in relation thereto in a position to make it form a continuation of the movable part of the rail in swung-out position.

4. A door according to claim 1, in which one end of the rail is pivotally connected to the bulkhead at a point outside the bulkhead corresponding to the swung-out position of the door, whereas the other end of the rail is adapted for cooperation with a roller at the upper edge of the door and is movable together with the door.

5. A door according to claim 1 adapted to close an opening in which the bottom transverse member of the door frame part is flush with the plane of a floor, according to which a sealing strip is arranged on the underside of the lower edge of the door in a position to cooperate with a transverse ledge in the opening the tilting angle being chosen in such a manner that said sealing strip is lifted oif the ledge prior to the sideward movement of the door.

6. A door according to claim 5, in which cooperating rollers and guides are arranged in juxtaposition at the upper edge of the door and at the corresponding part of the door frame, respectively, said parts being adapted in cooperation to force the door downwards for engagement of the sealing strip with the ledge during the later part of the closing movement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 981,709 1/1911 Staley et al 49212 2,570,563 10/1951 Kreimendahl 49-222 XR 2,764,784 10/ 1956 McCall 49217 XR 2,893,071 7/1959 Oden 49-130 KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,373,527 March 19, 1968 Johan Bertil Olsson It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

6 d 7Infche headigg to the printed specification, between lines an lnsert laims riorit a lication Swed D 1965, 16297 p y pp ec Signed and sealed this 19th day of August 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

' Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

